Australia Day Three – Brisbane to the Gold Coast

I awoke at about 4am on Thursday, which was unfortunate.  But I made some coffee and did some writing.  Dave awoke a bit later and, likewise, sat and wrote.  He’s written several books on community organizing and such, and I am even more impressed with his theological vision for his neightborhood…and the world.  The two of us are in many ways sympatico, and I plan to come back here to West End Brisbane for a longer stay sometime.

Around 7:30, we walked a few blocks over to Black Star Coffee, which is presently housed in a small warehouse.  I watched (and filmed) as Matt roasted a batch of beans

He’s already started a similar company (People’s Coffee) in New Zealand, and now he’s helping at Blackstar for a while.  Blackstar is a part of The Waiters Union, which is the community that Dave and Ange started when they moved back from India.  Their commitment to the community of West End is really astounding, and Blackstar is a part of that.  Matt joked about all of the emerging churches that have failed coffee houses in their pasts, and about how important it is to have a bigger vision than a cafe.  Well, these guys have a bigger vision.  They’re also true coffee connesiers, and they pull an amazing shot:

The rest of the morning consisted of a personal and interesting conversation with a group that is basically the emergent-esque cohort in Brisbane.  We talked about life and church and ministry and theology.  I really, really enjoyed my time with these folks.

After lunch, Duncan drove me to his home on the Gold Coast.  We went to his gym for an hour, then out to dinner with his family.  On the way across the parking lot to the restaurant, it seemed that a tree was coming alive with birds.  Duncan explained they were rainbow lorikeets, which make a racket for about 90 minutes each evening:

After dinner, another conversation with church leaders and others from the Gold Coast, then off to bed.  All in all, a long and gratifying day.  I get Friday basically off, so I’m looking forward to the down time.